The Ascension of the Lord
Tlugħ il-Mulej fis-Sema
Messalin
A pp 217
In the first book,
Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught until the day he was
taken up, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles
whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he
had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God Jerusalem Israel Jerusalem , throughout Judea and Samaria
L-Ewwel Lezzjoni
- Atti ta' l-Appostli 1, 1-11
Fl-ewwel rakkont tiegħi, Teofilu, tkellimt fuq dak
kollu li Ġesu' kien għamel u għallem minn :
Ġwanni għammed bl-ilma, imma intom, fi ftit ijiem oħra titgħammdu bl-Ispirtu s-Santu." Kif
kienu flimkien staqsewh: "Mulej, hu dan iż-żmien li fih int se
terġa' twaqqaf is-Saltna ta' Iżrael?" Hu weġibhom: "M'hijiex biċċa tagħkom li tkunu tafu l-waqt u ż-żmien li l-Missier għażel bis-setgħa tiegħu. Imma meta jiġi fuqkom l-Ispirtu s-Santu, intom tirċievu l-qawwa, u tkunu
xhieda tiegħi f'Ġerusalemm, fil-Lhudija kollha u s-Samarija u sa truf
l-art." Wara li qal dan, huma u jħarsu lejh, kien meħud 'il fuq, u sħaba ħadithulhom
minn quddiem għajnejhom. Waqt li kienu
b'għajnejhom fis-sema jħarsu lejh sejjer, f'daqqa waħda dehru ħdejhom żewġt irġiel
libsin l-abjad, u qalulhom: "Irġiel tal-Galilija, x'intom tħarsu
lejn is-sema? Dan Ġesu', li kien meħud minn magħkom lejn is-sema, għad jerġa' jiġi kif rajtuh sejjer." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Responsorial Psalm
- psalm 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9
R/ Alleluia.
All you peoples, clap
your hands,
shout to God with cries of gladness,
For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,
is the great king over all the earth. R/
shout to God with cries of gladness,
For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,
is the great king over all the earth. R/
God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy;
the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.
Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our king, sing praise. R/
For king of all the earth
is God;
sing hymns of praise.
God reigns over the nations,
God sits upon his holy throne. R/
sing hymns of praise.
God reigns over the nations,
God sits upon his holy throne. R/
Salm Responsorajli - Salm 46(47)
R/ Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Popli kollha, ċapċpu idejkom,
għajtu b'leħen ta' ferħ lil Alla!
Għax il-Mulej, l-Għoli, hu tal-biża',
sultan kbir fuq l-art kollha. R/
Tela' Alla b'għajat ta' ferħ,
il-Mulej bid-daqq tat-trombi.
Għannu lil Alla għannu,
għannu lis-sultan tagħna, għannu. R/
Għax Alla s-sultan ta' l-art kollha:
għannulu bis-sengħa għanja sabiħa.
Isaltan Alla fuq il-ġnus kollha,
joqgħod Alla fuq it-tron imqaddes tiegħu. R/
reading 2 - ephesians
1:17-23
Brothers and sisters: May the God
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of
him. May the eyes of your hearts be
enlightened, that you may know what is
the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his
inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his
power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might, which
he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right
hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and
dominion, and every name that is named not
only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things beneath his
feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the
fullness of the one who fills all things in every way. This is the Word of The Lord.
It-Tieni Lezzjoni
- mill-Ittra ta' San Pawl lil
Efesin 1, 17-23
Ħuti, Alla ta' Sidna Ġesu' Kristu, il-Missier
tal-glorja, jagħtikom spirtu ta' għerf u rivelazzjoni biex tagħrfuh sewwa. Hu
jdawlilkom l-għajnejn ta' qalbkom biex tagħrfu x'inhi
t-tama tas-sejħa tagħkom; x'inhu l-għana
tal-glorja tal-wirt li takom taqsmu mal-qaddisin. Tagħrfu x'inhu l-kobor bla qjies tas-setgħa
tiegħu fina li emminna, skond il-ħila tal-qawwa kbira tiegħu li ħaddem fi
Kristu, meta qajmu mill-imwiet, u qiegħdu fil-lemin tiegħu
fis-smewwiet, 'il fuq minnkull Saltana u
Setgħa, minn kull Qawwa u Ħakma, 'il fuq
minn kull isem li jissemma, mhux biss għaż-żmien ta' issa, imma wkoll għal li ġej.
Iva, qiegħed kollox taħt riġlejh u għamlu ras fuq il-Knisja kollha, li hi Ġismu, il-milja ta' dak li jimla kollox
f'kollox. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Gospel - matthew28:16-20
The eleven disciples went
to Galilee , to the mountain to which Jesus had
ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus
approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given
to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until
the end of the age.” This is the Word of
The Lord.
L-EVANGELJU
- skond San Mattew 28, 16-20
F'dak iż-żmien, il-ħdax id-dixxiplu telqu lejn
il-Galilija u marru fuq il-muntanja fejn kien ordnalhom Ġesu'. Kif
rawh, inxteħtu quddiemu, għalkemm xi wħud iddubitaw, Ġesu' resaq ikollimhom u
qalilhom: "Lili ngħatat kull setgħa fis-sema u fl-art. Morru, mela, agħmlu dixxipli mill-ġnus kollha, u għammduhom fl-isem
tal-Missier u ta' l-Iben u ta' l-Ispirtu s-Santu, u għallmuhom iħarsu dak kollu
li ordnajtilkom jien. U ara, jiena magħkom
dejjem sa l-aħħar taż-żmien. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
/////////////////////////
COMMENTARY:
Why
Are You Staring at the Sky?
By Fr Raniero
Cantalamessa, OFM Cap
In
the first reading an angel says to the disciples:
"Men of Galilee, why are you staring at the sky? This Jesus, who was taken
up from among you and assumed into heaven, shall one day return in the same way
in which you saw him go to heaven."
This
is an occasion to clarify once and for all what we mean by "heaven."
Among almost all people, heaven indicates the habitation of the divinity. Even
the Bible uses this spatial language:
"Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace to men on earth."
With
the advent of the scientific era, all these religious meanings attributed to
the word "heaven" are now in crisis. The heavens are the space in
which our planet and the whole solar system moves, and nothing else. We all
have heard of the remark attributed to the Soviet astronaut after returning
from his trip through the cosmos:
"I traveled through outer space a long time and didn't see God
anywhere!"
It
is important therefore to try to clarify what we Christians mean when we say
"Our Father who art in heaven," or when we say that someone
"went to heaven." In these cases the Bible adapts itself to the
common way of speaking (we do it today too, even in the scientific era, when we
say that the sun "rises" and "sets"). But the Bible knows well
and teaches that God is "in heaven, on earth and everywhere," that he
is the one who "created the heavens" and, if he created them, cannot
be "contained" by them. That God is "in the heavens" means
that he "dwells in inaccessible light," that he is as far beyond us
"as the heavens are above the earth."
We
Christians also agree that in talking about heaven as God's dwelling place we
understand it more as a state of being than a place. When we speak about God it
would be nonsense to say that he is literally "above" or
"below," "up" or "down." We are not therefore
saying that heaven doesn't exist but only that we lack the categories with
which to adequately represent it. Suppose we ask a person who is blind from birth
to describe the different colors to us:
red, green, blue. ... He could not tell us anything since we only perceive
colors through our eyes. This is what it is like for us in regard to
"heaven" and to eternal life, which is outside space and time.
In
light of what we have said, what does it mean to proclaim that Jesus
"ascended into heaven"? We find the answer in the Creed. "He
ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father."
That
Christ has ascended into heaven means that he "is seated at the right hand
of the Father," that is, as man too, he has entered into God's world; that
he has been constituted the Lord and head of all things, as St. Paul says in the second reading.
In
regard to us, "going to heaven" or going to "paradise"
means going and being "with Christ" (Philippians 1: 23). Our heaven is the risen Christ together with
whom we shall form a "body" after our resurrection but also, in a
provisional and imperfect way, immediately after our death. It is sometimes
objected that no one has returned from heaven to assure us that it truly exists
and is not just a pious illusion. It's not true! There is one who -- if we know
how to recognize him -- returns from heaven every day in the Eucharist to
assure us and to renew his promises.
The
words of the angel -- "Men of Galilee, why are you staring at the
sky?" -- also contain an implicit reproof:
We should not just "stare into the sky" and speculate about the
beyond, but rather we should live in expectation of his return, follow his mission,
bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth, improve life in this world.
He
has gone to heaven but without leaving earth. He has only disappeared from our
field of vision. Indeed in the Gospel he himself assures us: "Behold, I am with you always, even to the
end of the world."
[Translation from the Italian
original by Joseph G. Trabbic]
No comments:
Post a Comment